The Federal Government of Nigeria has recently said that it has activated the economic empowerment of about 10 million women to achieve its one trillion-dollar economy ambition.
Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, disclosed this at a high-level sideline event of the 2025 United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, U.S.A.
The event is themed: “Scaling Women’s Economic Empowerment: Financing Inclusive Growth for Peace, Development, and Human Rights – Lessons from Nigeria for Women Project.”
Vice-President Kashim Shettima departed Abuja on Sunday, September 21, 2025, for New York to represent President Bola Tinubu at the 80th session of the UNGA.
Speaking at the event, the minister said the economic empowerment is being achieved through targeted projects, initiatives, programmes, and interventions focused on women.
She said that one of the key vehicles being utilised for the empowerment is the Nigeria for Women Project (NFWP).
According to her, NFWP, under the leadership of President Tinubu, is currently the nation’s most significant women’s economic empowerment platform.
“In phase one, we mobilised over 460,000 women into Women Affinity Groups (WAGs) across multiple states.
“These groups have collectively saved over an average of N4.9 billion of their own money and have inter-loaned significantly to expand businesses, cover health costs, and pay school fees.
“In addition, over 330,000 women have accessed livelihood grants, while thousands have been linked to formal financial institutions, national ID, and health insurance schemes,” she said.
The minister said after the successful pilot launch in six states, the ministry had scaled up and opened up to all states.
“It is critical to highlight that while this model borrows from the most successful global experiences, we have wholly adapted it to Nigerian realities.
“The Women Affinity Groups that are created under the programme have become platforms of voice, social capital, and economic agency.
“They are changing the texture of communities, lowering household vulnerability, and strengthening our democracy from below, ” she said.
The minister told delegates and partners at the event that the ministry realised that “investing in women’s entrepreneurship will transform not just incomes but also nutrition, education, and community stability”.
She said that, based on that understanding, the government consolidated its empowerment approach into a single delivery architecture that integrated agriculture, clean energy, logistics, digital access, mobile services, amongst others.
